Swimmer
by Chaotic-Mind-12
Summary: Emily is a normal teen who just wanted to be on the swim team at her new highschool. After a car crash with an unusual sight she is begining to wonder about some of the people on her team, including two who seem to have a secret agenda. No good at summary
1. Prologue

7/31/09

**A/N: Hey everyone. Thanks for reading. This chapter's really short but I almost didn't have a Prologue and decided to put this in. The rest of the chapters wll be way longer and I'll try to get them out quickly.  
**

Prologue

The wind rushed past me for a few seconds before I hit the black surface headfirst. I had braced for impact but I went straight through with a splash. Water.

It was freezing. So cold that I went numb instantly. With the darkness, quiet, and lack of pain. I stopped. For a minute, I didn't struggle, didn't move at all. Just floated.

I heard another splash above me and started swimming back up to the surface.

"Em, wake up," my dad was saying, pounding on the door, pulling me out of the dream. "You don't want to be late for your first high school swim practice."

"Fine," I said. I rolled over and embraced the warmth of my blankets.


	2. The First Practice

**A/N: Hey. I got back really quickly. The first chappie was too short so I decided to get this one out. Enjoy. **

Chapter 1

We gathered on the bleachers that were next to the pool. Of course she would talk for the first half hour of practice. I wouldn't complain though, it was warm. After going over the rules and what was expected of us, the coach assigned us to lanes.

The freshmen were placed in the first of the four lanes. The sophomore's were in the second and so on. Unlike the other groups, the sophomore's only had four people.

I slid into the warm water. I had to readjust my cap to get my hair under it. My goggles fit perfectly against my face as I took a deep breath and started my warm-up of eight laps (that's a 200 if you must know). I counted four strokes to each breath. I finished first, leaning against the pool wall, I took another deep breath to calm my heart. I loved swimming.

Another form appeared next to me. Anna, with the red wisps of her hair coming from under her cap, smiled. "I think this is gonna be fun." I only knew her from my math class and had never talked to her.

The third member of the freshmen appeared. It was Cameron. He had his blond hair cut short. He had been my friend since I'd moved to New York earlier that year, but we were never really close.

We watched as the last person awkwardly made his way through the water. We weren't going to make fun of him for it but it was hard to watch.

"Who is that," I asked. "I've never seen him before.

Both of the swimmers shrugged as this last person came in. I saw a shaggy black mass covering his head and bright green eyes shining through the goggles.

We gave the boy some tips, which seemed to help. He really had some raw talent but was a bit rough. I felt like asking what his name was but thought it would be rude so I kept my mouth shut. He seemed to help me with that.

We were about to get out when he came over. The curls of hair that had escaped my cap looked black because of the water. I had taken off the rubber hat and sank into the water. It instantly straightened my hair to it's normal length at mid-back.

"Hey," the boy said. "Thanks for the help. My name is Percy. Percy Jackson."

I hauled myself out of the water. "My name's Emily Ridgley." I went over to my bag, got out my towel, and headed for the locker room to change.

Several minutes later, I was headed out the other side clad in sweatpants, sweatshirt, and sandals. My hair was in a messy, dark bun on top of my head. I was following three other girls, all older, out to the parking lot.

I saw Percy waiting outside. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw him watch us as we tried to stuff all of our bags into the trunk. We got in by seniority. My cousin, Cassandra, was driving. Her friends Michelle, who had shotgun, and Jena were on the right side.

I listened silently as they complained about everything from boys to schoolwork. They ignored me most of the time, being the sophomore among seniors.

Cassandra was actually the reason we'd moved to the Big Apple. I had been in a fairly small town when my dad got a promotion that got him moved to a bigger city. New York was one of the locations. Dad knew that he would be working more. His sister said that she would help with me since I didn't have a license or a mom to drive me around.

Oh poor me. Whatever. Now, let's get back to the story!

Cassandra was swerving around the road, making Michelle laugh and Jena gasp. I smiled to myself, I kind of like being pushed to the background. It was funny to see what they say when they forgot I was there.

Something caught my attention outside my window. I turned to see what it was and gasped as our car went flipping across the highway.


	3. My Side of the Story

**A/N: Hey. This chapter is possibly the shortest chapter (Other than the prolouge) I'm going to have. I hope you guys like it. **

Chapter 2

I blacked out for a little while. I mean who wouldn't if you flipped a car. The first thing I noticed was voices.

"Oh my," said a worried, unfamiliar woman's voice. "How many people are there?"

"Four," said another voice. This one was closer and more familiar somehow.

The next thing I noticed was gravity. I know it's there all the time but my seat belt snapped and I fell to the roof of the car.

"Emily, are you okay?"

I opened my eyes to see Percy leaning through my open door. He held out his hand to help me get out.

I heard the sirens in the distance. I looked back at my friends. Michelle was out cold. Cassandra had blood coming from her forehead and Jena just looked dazed.

That was when it really hit me. "Oh God. What happened?"

"You crashed," Percy said in explanation. His forehead was creased with a worry that I couldn't understand.

I smiled. "Thank you, Captain Obvious. I couldn't figure out on my own. I thought we were still driving."

An ambulance showed up behind him. He looked over his shoulder then back at me. "Let's get you out of there."

I crawled out of the car. Something about the whole situation felt wrong. I stood up but collapsed as soon as I put pressure on my right leg. I would have been on the ground again if Percy hadn't caught me.

"Thanks," I muttered as the shooting pain in my leg subsided.

He motioned to the car that had pulled up behind us. A woman was leaning against the side of the car. A boy, maybe two years older than me, came over to help me to one of the four ambulances.

I watched as my friends were hauled away on stretchers and in neck-braces. As they drove away a couple of the EMT people came over to me. Percy, his friend, and the woman I assumed was his mom was close by too.

Being the most lucid of the four, they asked me what happened. "You're going to think I'm crazy," I muttered. "But this is what I swear I saw. It was a lion, it must have been the size of a hummer, and it had gold fur. It swiped the back of our car. After that everything goes blank."

Nobody laughed when I was done with my story. My face must have shown how serious I was. The EMT people started muttering about CT scans and brain trauma. I saw Percy whisper something to his friend who nodded gravely.

I was loaded into the ambulance and taken to the hospital.

**A/N: Okay, now. Seriously, tell me what you think. I won't be offended though I will ignore flames. **


	4. After the Wreck

**A/N: Hey. I would have had this up earlier but I practically rewrote the chapter. I hope it is satisfactory to anyone who is reading this. **

Chapter 3

After the Wreck

The hospital didn't tell us anything that we didn't already know. No one was severely injured. We had a lot of stitches and a broken arm.

My CT scan came back normal which, in my thoughts, meant that I wasn't crazy. I did sprain my ankle. They said that I would have to wear a brace and that I wouldn't be able to practice for a week.

Percy and his mom stayed until all of our parents got to the hospital. This meant I was able to ask Percy something. "Do you think I'm crazy too?"

Percy shrugged. "It was a really traumatic event but I don't think that makes you crazy."

"That story I said was kind of far fetched," I said quietly, not looking at him. "I don't know. I thought that was what I saw."

"Don't worry," he said, grinning slightly, as if from an inside joke. "I know something about that."

"Em, Emily," I heard my dad call as he entered the waiting room. "Are you okay?"

"Thanks for the help," I said with a small smile. "I'll see you at school I guess." I turned away from him to see my dad.

Percy walked away.

"Emily is everything okay?" he asked. He took me by the shoulders and looked me in the eyes. "When the hospital called, I was so worried. I thought that something horrible happened."

"Yeah," I replied. "We wrecked."

Dad shook his head slowly, suppressing a laugh. "I knew that from the call. I thought it was…" He trailed off, thinking. "Never mind that. I'm just glad you're okay."

"What did you think that it was?" I asked. I had no clue what he was getting at. I also had a feeling that I wouldn't know what it was.

"I said to never mind," he said shortly. He took a deep breath. His temper only flared when he was worried about something or had lost all patience. The latter had only happened once in my lifetime and with me as a child, that was pretty good.

"Let's just go home," I said.

He nodded. "That sounds like a good idea."

~*~

School passed like normal. My habit of just scraping up a passing grade hadn't changed with the wreck. It wasn't that I was extremely dumb, just really lazy. The only thing I really tried at was swimming.

It wasn't until the week after the wreck, when I could finally go back to swim practice, that anything was less than normal. Two boys, who not only had not been at practice a week ago, I had never seen in my life, were there. I asked Anna about them.

She pointed to the taller of the two. "That's Levi," she said in a slightly dreamy voice, like her mind was somewhere else. "He's a junior." He had blond hair that was spiked at the front. Perfectly tanned, perfect teeth, perfect hair. I am not one to go gaga over a boy but even I had to say he was HOT.

His friend wasn't so much. He had light brown hair, was not nearly as tanned or muscular as Levi and had glasses. He would probably be pegged as a geek at school but there was something about him that was kinda cute. "That's Mark," Anna said, noticing my gaze. "He's a sophomore, like us."

"They weren't here the first day," I said. I wasn't surprised that I hadn't seen them at school but I should have seen him at practice. If Mark were a sophomore then he would have been in our lane.

"Yeah they were," Anna, contradicted me. "Mark's about average. Not extremely fast but not horrible. Levi is really good."

_Great, _I thought. _Like she needs another reason for her to idolize that boy._

"Yeah," I said with a nod."Whatever." I wouldn't win an argument against the redhead and I wanted to have a friend on the team. I still wasn't sure how they had hoodwinked the entire team. I was sure that they hadn't been there before but I had also thought that the car I was in had been attacked by a giant lion.

I just couldn't trust my own mind. I should have. It was a costly mistake.

**A/N: I hope to have the next chapter up quicker. It is already partly written so it is possible but I'm still not making promises. Everyone have a good morning/day/afternoon/evening/night/ whatever time of day it is when you read this.**


	5. First Swim Meet

**A/N: Hey. It's been a while. Umm...Yeah, sorry about that. Here's the story.**

Chapter Four

First Swim Meet

I had fairly normal practices and school. No lions attacked, nothing weird happened with Mark and Levi. I tried to forget about Finally it was time for our first meet. We were all so excited.

"Hey dad," I called to him. I was standing in the kitchen, finishing packing my swim bag before I had to leave while my dad was sitting in front of the TV in the living room of our apartment.

"What's up Em?" he called back.

"You're going to come this time, right?" I asked hesitantly.

"I hope so," he replied.

That was it. No promises made but it still gave me the hope. I really wanted him to be there to watch me race. He was just so busy sometimes that he couldn't come and, sometimes, it was a bunch of last minute stuff that pulled him away. There were times when I wasn't even sure if it was actually work that stopped him.

"Okay," I said quietly as my cell phone buzzed. A text from Cassandra appeared on the screen that said she was waiting in the parking lot.

The drive was uneventful. We got to the pool and everyone was buzzing with excitement. Most of the people wanted to swim, show what they could do and beat the other team. A few others just wanted to get it over with but they were in the minority.

I only had one event and it was in the middle of the meet. I was slightly disappointed that I wasn't able to do more after all the practice I had been through but the coach hadn't seen me in competition before. If I did my best, maybe they would give me more events. And best of all, my dad had shown up.

I cheered on all my teammates, my friends especially. I was still a little weary of Mark and Levi and tried to stay away from them as much as possible. I had talked to Mark once when Levi wasn't around. He was kind of nice but whenever the two of them were together they gave me weird looks. I also thought I saw them glare at Percy a couple of times and they had never even spoken to each other.

Before too much time had passed, it was time for me to swim. I was ready for my event, up on the block as the announcer told us to get ready. I was about to put my goggles on when I thought I saw Levi take out a knife. I straightened up quickly, my goggles crooked on my face. I looked back and couldn't even see Levi anymore.

I decided to write it off as my wild imagination. I put my goggles on and got into position right as the whistle blew. I was off as quickly as possible and got a payoff of being first in my event.

I hung on the wall as the others finished up, trying to catch my breath. I grinned. They really got to see me race.

"Good job," Percy said, looking down at me. He gave me a high five. I was smiling until I looked over to the stands.

"Is something wrong?" Percy asked, noticing my expression.

"My dad left before my event," I said sadly. "He's done that before but I thought that since this was my first high school meet that maybe…" I trailed off, not really ready to say my real hope. I really felt like a failure most of the time so I just wanted to make him proud. He wanted me to be a good swimmer, probably in the Olympics or something eventually, but he rarely saw me race.

Another whistle blew, signaling that we all had to get out. Percy grabbed my arm and helped me out of the pool. "Don't worry," he said. "I've known some people whose parents are really absentee."

Those words made me feel a little bit better. I started to walk away, and then I turned back. "Good luck on your event."

"Thanks."

I went and changed into shorts and a sweatshirt. I came out just in time to see Percy's event start. I went over where the rest of the team was standing, by the door. I cheered for Percy until someone put a hand over my mouth.

I felt something cold at my throat and somehow knew it was a blade. "Don't struggle and you won't get hurt." It was breathed into my ear with a cold voice. It had a different tone than normal but I could tell that it was Levi. He pulled me backwards toward the door.

I wasn't sure how he had gotten me away from all of those people but he did. No one seemed to notice what had happened. He led me toward the lobby. It was my chance. People worked at the desk and they would see what was happening and help. Wouldn't they?

"You were right, Levi," I heard Mark say from ahead. "The powder worked. They all fell fast asleep."

My heart sank. There was no other chance for me. Levi was almost twice my size (and had a knife!!) and Mark looked like a runner, which I wasn't. I would probably trip over my own feet. I didn't think that anyone else had seen what happened.

"Bind her hands," Levi ordered, without letting up with his knife or taking his hand away from my mouth.

Like I'd actually been trying to use my hands to escape. I was too freaked about the knife at my throat to actually do anything.

Mark took my wrists in one hand and tied it with a thick length of rope. I tried to send him a message with my eyes like,_ How could you do this to me._ He seemed like a really nice guy. I didn't know why he would be caught up with a kidnapping. I wasn't even sure why I was being kidnapped or even if I actually was. Maybe this was just some kind of trick my mind was playing on me.

Mark pointedly avoided looking in my eyes. His face was expressionless. Nothing to say what he was thinking or feeling.

They continued to lead me out into the parking lot. Twilight had crept in and it had started snowing, which was really cold on my bare feet. My last real hope was that we would pass someone before we got to whatever car they took me to.

Mark opened the back door to a small black car with tinted windows.

I began to tremble. This was it. It was my last chance to get away and I had no idea what to do. I didn't even know if there was anything that I could do.

"Don't worry, sweetheart," Levi said mockingly. He must have noticed my fear. "You'll like it better where we're taking you."

**A/N: Hope you liked it. Thanks for sticking with me.**


	6. What is Happening?

Chapter 5

What is Happening?

"Hey," I heard a voice yell from behind me. I had never been so thankful to hear anyone before, especially since I knew who it was. "Where do you think you're going?"

Levi turned around, jerking me with him, and faced Percy and a pale guy I didn't recognize. "This isn't your business, Jackson."

Percy pulled a pen out of his pocket and brandished it at Mark and Levi. "Emily's my friend. She needs to go to Camp Half-Blood."

I had stopped trying to figure out what was going on.

"We have our own plan. We need Emily's help with it."

"What would this plan be for?" the other boy asked.

"You don't need to worry about that," Mark said. He stepped forward and pulled out a long, thin sword.

The boy pulled out a black sword. "You guys are crazy," he said and charged at Mark. Their swords clashed together as they began to fight like a movie about medieval knights, only in jeans and tennis shoes. When I looked back over at Percy, he had a sword in his hand too.

Levi pushed me back, into the car, and slammed the door shut. I sat up and looked out the window. Levi had pulled out two long knives and he and Percy were locked in their own battle. Mark and the other boy were still fighting and it didn't look like Mark was doing so well.

I pulled on the handle, with both hands, to open the door. It wouldn't budge and I couldn't find the lock. I banged my fists against the window in frustration.

The battle continued outside the window. I couldn't believe this was happening. It seemed like a dream and not necessarily a good dream.

Another sound caught my attention. A tapping. I turned around to see a face at the other window. It was the older boy who had been at the wreck with Percy. I wasn't sure if he could see me or not but I was pretty sure that he knew I was there.

He put something to his lips, some sort of pipe. I wasn't sure what happened but I heard the lock click. He opened the door. "Come on," he almost whispered. "Were getting you out of here."

He helped me out of the car and pulled me toward the other end of the parking lot, ducking between the cars. I glanced over at the fighting. No one had noticed me yet but that was about to change.

"No you don't," I heard Levi scream. He must have seen me or the evidence of the empty car. I turned around to see him charge towards me. Percy was able to block his path and the fight started again, more intensely than before.

"Here," the older boy said, opening the back door of a white SUV. I climbed in and he shut the door behind me. "Let's move out," he yelled to the others.

The boy that I didn't know hit Mark in the side of the head with the broadside of his black sword. Mark collapsed onto the ground, totally limp. _Sweet dreams, Creep. _That kid ran over to the car, opened the back door on the other side from me, but then turned back around. "Hurry up Percy," he yelled. "We've got to go."

Percy didn't turn toward the voice like I would have done, he was focused. He blocked another blow from Levi's knives; he then hit Levi close to the hilts of his knives, forcing Levi to drop his weapons. Percy took this advantage by kicking Levi in the chest. Levi stumbled back a few steps clutching at his chest like he couldn't breathe. Percy ran over to the SUV and hopped in the front seat.

The older boy started driving before Percy finished pulling his door shut. We peeled out of the parking lot. It looked like Levi had caught his breath again because he was attempting to run after us with his mouth moving rapidly, like he was shouting curses at us. I couldn't hear it.

After we had gotten out of the lot and onto a main road, the boy next to me let out a whistle. "That was awesome," he practically shouted. "It has been too long since I've gotten to fight something living."

"Whatever," Percy said calmly.

This was insane. "What just happened?" I managed to get out, an edge of hysteria in my voice. Had I left one set of insane people to get caught by another?

The dark haired boy looked over at me like he'd forgotten I was there as Percy spoke. "Hmm. Where to begin," he mused. "I suppose the beginning. The driver here is Grover Underwood. Nico di Angelo is sitting next to you."

"What just happened?" I repeated, a little more controlled this time.

"I think you had better start with the big picture before you get into the details," the boy, Nico said. "And before we get to that"-he cut the rope around my wrists and pulled my swim bag from the back-"we saved this for you."

They then told me about Greek gods and how they were in the US for the 21st century and how the Titan Kronos had tried to destroy the world. "That's a nice little story," I told them when I thought they were done, "but, supposing I believe it"-which I wasn't sure I did-"what does that have to do with me."

"Some of Kronos's followers willingly came back to the side of the gods once the war was over, some were put into special prisons," Percy explained. "Others have gone a bit crazy, believing that they are still working for their old master, but haven't been caught yet. Levi and Mark were one of those half-bloods."

"Crazies," I muttered. "Why did they want me?"

"Good question," Nico answered with a shrug. "We can't know what they were thinking. Maybe they were trying to recruit more half-bloods?"

"So…I'm a half-blood like you guys?" Percy nodded at me. "What happens now?"

"We'll go to Camp Half-blood," Percy said. "You'll train to survive, get some type of weapon and figure out who your godly parent is." He stopped to think. "The time limit for the gods to claim all of their children hasn't been reached yet, so nothing bad should happen with you."

"First off, bad? Why would it be bad?" This worried me.

"For Percy's wish, he wanted all of the gods to claim their children before their thirteenth birthday," Nico explained. "You're already fifteen or sixteen but they had a year before they had to have claimed all of their children. It's hard to say what would happen if they hadn't claimed you by then."

"FYI, I'm fifteen and that sounds like a good thing," I said, nodding. "My second question, what is this about a camp? Don't I get to pack or anything? And what about school?"

Percy sighed, seeming exasperated by all the questions. "You want to go get some things to take with you. Okay, but you'll have to be quick about it." He told Grover to turn onto a road and then how to get to my apartment building. I vaguely wondered how he knew where I lived but looked past it. "As for school," Percy continued. "You will be able to go back home whenever you want, as soon as you learn how to defend yourself."

I sighed. "Do I actually get any choice in this matter?"

Percy pretended to think then said, "Nope."


End file.
